Secretary of State John Kerry says the United States has not decided whether to recognize Nicolas Maduro as Venezuela's new president.

Kerry told a House of Representatives Committee, "We think there ought to be a recount." Kerry added, "...if there are huge irregularities, we are going to have serious questions about the viability of that government."

Sunday's narrow election victory by Maduro, the chosen successor of the late socialist President Hugo Chavez, has been rejected by his rival, Henrique Capriles. The opposition is alleging voting irregularities and calling for a recount.

But Venezuela's supreme court says the manual recount sought by the opposition is impossible because the election system is computerized. The national election board had already said there would be no recount.

Violence at opposition-led protests of the election results have resulted in seven deaths.